The state Department of Transportation has said that, when the Third Street bridge project is completed, allowing people to cross Easton's Canal Street at the base of Smith Street will be "inappropriate."

Bridge project plans show that "No Pedestrian Crossing" signs will be placed on the north and south sides of Canal Street there.

The problem is that, since anyone can remember, people have been walking from the city's South Side to the downtown via Smith Street, crossing Canal Street at just that spot.

The city questioned the planned ban late last year, and in a Jan. 3 reply to the city, PennDOT traffic engineer David A. Earp said that "existing signalization does not allow for pedestrian movement at the intersection of Canal Street, Third Street and S. Delaware Drive (Route 611)."

Earp's letter added that the roadway configuration, required traffic movements and signal timing in connection with the widening of the nearby Third Street Bridge -- renamed the Dr. George S. Smith Bridge last year -- make safe pedestrian timing "inappropriate."

City officials, who want to encourage people to use the downtown area, whether they drive or walk, said they are puzzled by PennDOT's position.

The problem of pedestrian access was highlighted by the start of the two-year project to widen the bridge from four to six lanes. Traffic jams that wind well up over the top of the Smith Street hill have encouraged some drivers to trade car keys for walking shoes.

Easton Police Capt. Carl Beers said the project subcontractor in charge of signals will adjust the timing on the signal at the bridge and Larry Holmes Drive. That would allow a longer green light into the downtown for northbound traffic from South Side and Route 611, easing the traffic jams.

PennDOT spokesman James Bergmaier and Earp confirmed the design prohibits pedestrian crossing at Canal Street, but said the case is not closed on the issue. They said they will be in touch with city officials to discuss the matter. Bergmaier and Earp said PennDOT has not heard from the city on the pedestrian matter since the January letter. They said PennDOT is "unaware they were unhappy with our answer."

City Planning Director Robert O'Neil said it wasn't until the bridge design was completed that the city realized there was no provision for pedestrian crossing at Canal Street, just south of the old Lehigh Valley Railroad passenger station. He said he wrote a letter last week asking for further discussions on pedestrian access at both Canal Street and the south end of the bridge, as well as emergency detour procedures should the span be totally blocked.

"I don't consider it a closed case yet," O'Neil said. He added that the design of the bridge project prohibits people from walking downtown, something contrary to local planning objectives.

Panto said the city, in order to bolster its case, will attempt to count the number of pedestrians coming to downtown from the South Side.

He said the state has never recognized Canal Street as an approved pedestrian crossing. "It has always been a problem crossing Canal Street," he said. "You get there, and how do you get across?"

The mayor said he thinks changes in signal timing would allow for some pedestrian crossing. Currently, he said, plans call for a constant traffic flow in the area, "without any time when all traffic is stopped going across Canal Street."

Earp, however, said establishing a pedestrian crossing isn't as simple as changing signal timing.

"PennDOT is saying we don't want the liability," said Panto. "We're saying you're going to have it anyway. If you're providing a sidewalk down Smith Avenue and steps onto that, how can you not provide for pedestrian crossing? Hopefully, they'll listen to the liability issue, because they're not listening to the city planners and the mayor's office when we tell them we need it.

"We're taking the position that this is something you can't skirt. It's there. You have to deal with it," the mayor said. "You can't have people walking down a sidewalk, down to the bottom of the hill and then finding out they can't cross. There's nothing that tells them where they can go. So they're going to have to cross."

Police Chief Alvin L. "Skip" Fairchild Jr. said he can't imagine that there would be no pedestrian access established somewhere in the area to allow travel to the downtown.

Panto said the pedestrian crossing is just one of many issues he wants to discuss with PennDOT. He said his fellow mayors in Allentown and Bethlehem also have some gripes. He noted that the three recently met with Lehigh Valley state legislators and asked for a "major pow-wow" with PennDOT on a number of issues peculiar to cities.